Wilfrid

Okay, is Shatner going to eat a yellow pepper at the start? And if not, what?

<p>I believe that if you have made at least one clear request for the check, there comes a point at which you can stand up and prepare to leave. That usually injects some urgency into the response. Note, I do not recommend that you make a dash for the door, which might be misinterpreted.<p>Speaking of which, the question of 'walking' raises some legal issues. Once you have placed the order, have you made a contract with the restaurant? I suspect so (although I know UK restuarant law better than US). Now if the restaurant fails to deliver the order to a reasonable standard or within a reasonable amount of time, I think (again, in the UK I'm sure) you can explain the situation, refuse to pay the check, or a fair portion of it, and leave. If you place the order, but then decide you don't like the noise level, or the decor, or the waiter's face, and get up to go, I think the restaurant may have grounds to say you should pay for the food whether you've eaten it or not.<p>I did have this experience once. I was in a large party which placed a dinner order in a Chinese restaurant. The most domineering member of the party took a dislike to the decor, stood up and insisted we all leave. The manager said: You ordered dinner, you need to pay for it. And I think he was right.

Well , I had New York in mind for obvious reasons. I did forget L.I. If the water there is a hazardous as you imply, the residents should be taking legal action. I guess I was just suggesting that water service should be perhaps the least complex and fraught part of the dining out experience, although this thread suggests otherwise.

Do I need a palate transplant or am I just lucky? I have always had a much better time at Caravelle than that. Still, good to know there's a cheese plate.

I must say I was disappointed with Marichu. It is theoretically a Basque restaurant, but I don't recall anything distinctively Basque about it. Like so many restaurants, it was okay-ish. We never went back. If anyone has had great Spanish or Basque cooking there over the last year, it would be interesting to hear details. I don't know if you can expand at all, wingding?

Not entirely. I think there are circumstances in which replenishing the water without asking is appropriate. I have often seen it happen at what are clearly business lunches or dinners, where the restaurant can safely assume no individual is paying. I also recognise the wealthy demographic who find it almost insulting to be asked if they can run to a second bottle of Pellegrino. As far as bread goes, you may get more without paying for it, but I find you often need to ask. At Michael's in midtown New York, it took some time to get bread served with the appetizers; when I finally snared a waiter, he carefully selected one half-slice of bread from his bursting basket and laid it delicately on my side plate. I wondered if he was paying for the brad out of his salary. But what a thread this is - give it up, everyone, and drink from the tap.

I often dine alone, and therefore often have to put my foot down when offered the table next to the door, or indeed a seat at the bar. I must say, almost every time I have been offered, and refused, a seat at the bar, I have then been given a decent table. I can't think of anything else which has caused me to walk, although I do tend to react badly to absence of service. In other words, not so much delays in the food coming, but situations where one cannot get a waiter's attention or get anyone to come to the table. After attempting all the usual ways of getting noticed, I go into slow but ostentatious waving of a fully extended arm above the head. I had to do that at Le Cirque once, and a captain almost jumped over a table to get to me before everyone noticed. The next step is to get up and actually walk up to a waiter. That freaks them out. Once, in L'Estaminet in London, the waiters were so nervous that they all vanished from the (slow) dining room. I chased them down and cornered them in a corridor leading to the kitchen! I was almost too amused to be angry.

Yes, unless my companions object I always order tap water, and I do so very firmly and often before I'm asked. If the waiter mentally sneers at me, I really don't care. I spend quite enough on food and wine. What struck me, reading through these posts, is that there are countries where it is standard practice acceptable bottled to be offered free. Sometimes these are fairly poor countries - maybe it's because the tap water isn't drinkable? I have found this in Turkey, and I'm sure elsewhere. Anyone else notice that?

Yes, can't be doing with coloured glasses. I will confess, though, that I have some chunky tumblers at home and sometimes - when I feel the food, occasion and indeed wine are appropriate - I will pretend to be in a rustic auberge. Out of the question, of course, if you want to enjoy the aroma of the wine; okay if you are drinking a vin de table to wash down something hearty. But I would love to know which restaurant is trying this on in Manhattan. I can't see any reason to be coy about naming them - they are surely proud of their policy, no?

Wouldn't there be a couple of exceptions in London - The Ivy and Sheekey's for example? More relevantly, the original Max's Kansas City closed a long long time ago. Two (maybe three) years ago, a joint calling itself Max's Kansas City opened in the theater district (in the fifties, west of Broadway). Certainly it traded on the old legend, but I was profoundly unimpressed. It was the sort of place where you could sit at a table and dine while watching a punk rock band. Ridiculous. Don't know if it's still there because I haven't looked for it.

Not big on cake, but do like the kind of heavy but deeply flavoured traditional British fruit cake I grew up with. Dense, lots of dried fruit, sultanas, raisins, etc, and usually some nuts. You can eat it, unconventionally, with a slice of mature cheddar. Glass of madeira too, please. I haven't eaten it in ages, and I must now see if Myers of Keswick here in NY stock it. I really don't like frosting or icing. A lighter alternative: I quite enjoy those Italian pannetone things. Not masterpieces of cuising, but again pleasant with a glass of madeira or even something sweeter like a Pedro Ximenez.

1. Union Square Greenmarket, or I expect a good butcher could order it for you. 2. Yes, I have seen that solution too. I haven't tried it because making my own brine only takes a couple of minutes - and I guess the kosher ones aren't wild. (Edited by Wilfrid at 2:03 pm on Nov. 14, 2001)

The first thing I always do, especially with wild turkey (and I do recommend wild turkey if you can get it) is put it in a marinade for twenty four hours. Roughly, a cup of kosher salt, half a cup (or more) of brown sugar, stirred into enough water to cover the turkey. You can use a big, non-leaky, clean plastic bag. Promotes juiciness, tenderness and taste. After that, I roast, and indeed will put the bird on each breast for some of the cooking time.

I don't disagree, but I think it's interesting to set a context. My current experience in bars of reasonable salubriousness south of, say 59th street or on the Upper East Side, is that (outside of happy hour) I am paying Ŭ.50 for draft pints, maybe ŭ.50 for 'well' spirits with mixers, then ů or Ű for standard cocktails. I almost never drink a glass of wine in a bar, but I guess Ů or ů would not be unusual. I guess that is why one is not surprised to be charged Ű in a restaurant - although it does imply mark-ups of 400% or more.

I get the idea, and thanks (neat picture), but I'm not planning on upgrading to an industrial dishwasher. My apartment has too many pretensions to being a professional restaurant as it is. I wonder how other visitors here actually do wash their fragile stemware, assuming they're not caddy-owners?

continued...After several rounds, the Glaswegians pass out and wake up the next day in a very bad state. "Well, " says one of them, "if that's what he drinks, no wonder they carry him around in that chair all day."

Yes, that's exactly where the soft spot was. I got a great table, by the way, a round one in the corner. It was pretty full for a Saturday second seating.

No need to beg! I was resolved not to review the restaurant again here, but looked out for anything which I could add to what you and Grimes have said. So a couple of things: I did eat the tasting menu, which is reasonable at ๑ - and the highlights were lobster in a creamy broth with black trumpet mushrooms and chunks of salty bacon (or pancetta), and the deeply flavoured, reduced to stickiness, juice on ther braised lamb shank. Also worth emphasising the wine prices. Ridiculously low for a restaurant of this calibre. I wonder if they can hold them down. I talked to the sommelier about it, and he said that he did take trouble to find reasonably priced sources. Even so, there are many, many appealing bottles on the list in the ษ to ุ price range. What can the mark up be? I drank a Chassagne Montrachet AC from 1995, which was all it should have been, for ็ (or was it ๑?). I'd have paid ำ to ุ for that in a wine store without blinking. Yes, it's a good restaurant indeed. I did have a slightly confused waiter, but I did not get the impression that he was representative of the service, which generally was very smooth and friendly. What an UGLY building, though - I'd never noticed it before.

Any tips for cleaning all that fancy stemware? The dishwasher makes them look nice, but causes casualties. Handwashing means it's hard to get them really clean - or maybe I'm not trying hard enough. For every day use, I have to admit I resort to clear, sturdy glasses which can stand some rough treatment.

No problem, I have squeezed in - on Saturday, indeed - using my customary late sitting option, which works with surprising frequency even for very popular restuarants and suits my weird metabolism. Now I need to read your review again.

Aha, yes, I am down at the ribby, fatty end. Sorry, I was too lazy to look at a calf chart. But the incision between ribs and meat with some stuffing makes perfect sense. Thanks Mr Shaw.

I have to come to Montana and get naked to eat a few animelles? Very well, I'll note it. There won't be any folk dancing, will there? I mean, there's a limit.

Thanks for the suggestions. My veal breast is a very fatty thing with flat bones through it; Yvonne, I think you're envisaging something sort of flat and filleted - I know what you mean.

Walked past the wine shop a lot and it looks intimidating. Like a big, wood panelled space with about three expensive bottles on view (I exaggerate, but you may get the picture). Italian wine is not my specialist subject either. There must be some way they could make it more welcoming (if they're looking for general trade).

If I read you right, you want to introduce your chum to offal in New York. You are talking my language. Here are some favourites. Menus change, of course, so you might want to check with the restaurants: Brains in black butter and sweetbread dishes are often on the menu at the inexpensive La Lunchonette in Chelsea. Same organs are also among the specials at Alfredo's, but they had sold out when I tried to sample. Several black pudding/sausage options. Les Halles on Park Avenue usually has it, but I find their version a bit soft and runny. Better experiences at Chez Josephine on 42nd and Florent in the meatpacking district. You will find variations on the dish in Philippino restaurants such as Cendrillon and Latin restaurants such as the Old San Juan on 9th (or Old San Juan Too on third). The San Juans also have good grilled veal sweetbreads. At this time of year, I hear the oxtail at Blue Ribbon is excellent, but I haven't tried it. Lots of upmarket restaurants venture oxtail ravioli, but that's a bit wimpy, right? Cheap and delicious pig spleen sandwich at a storefront sandwich bar on First Avenue called La Focacceria. Can't find the address - it's a few blocks up around fourth street. Ever eaten duck's blood? Rush to the Malaysia restaurant at 48 Bowery (it's actually down an alley way leading west off the Bowery just north of Bayard). They do duck's blood (which is like liver-flavoured jelly) about twenty different ways, and everything else I've tried there has been cheap and delicious too. One of the most exciting offal experiences in the five boroughs is buying frituras (tongue, pig's cheek, intestines (no, not tripe, intestines), morcilla, etc) from one of the Dominican vans parked in the Bronx. That's a tough assignment unless you're a confident Spanish speaker (and okay with hanging around the Bronx after dark), but I'll look up a location if you're keen. If you want something more elegant, consider L'Absinthe, an expensive Upper East Side bistro which used to serve sensationally good calve's head with a leek salad. Last time I was there they'd replaced it with a fancied up stuffed pig's feet, but it wasn't hearty enough for me. (They do offer whelks from their raw bar - not offal, but I suspect appeals to the same sophisticated palate.) Generally, Chinatown is a good and obvious bet. Your only problem is going to be whether the offal dishes are listed on the menu in English. Puerto Rican and Domincan restaurants (try the Lower East Side or Alphabet City in Manhattan) usually serve mondongo, the tripe stew. I have the impression you are not planning on buying and cooking yourself - that would be a whole other list. Kidneys are not readily available, and what I have also not found in New York are testicles (or rocky moutain oysters, if you insist). If anyone knows where to buy or eat them, I'd be most interested. (Edited by Wilfrid at 11:57 am on Nov. 8, 2001)